Transformation and Renewal - We Need Both

This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you... Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect (mature) in their relationship to Christ. (Colossians 1:26-28)

The message is clear - God wants us in his family. There are unrealized riches awaiting all those who say yes to Jesus. Because Christ lives in us, all that Christ possesses - his riches and glory - are shared by those who enter into this relationship. The more we hear this message, the more it should strike a chord within our hearts that reminds us just how much we are loved. We could have been abandoned to our sin, but God chose to give us the very thing that would cause sin to relinquish its control over our lives - Christ's power and presence. Both lead to us having perfect peace that passes all understanding.

Sometimes we need a warning, while at other times we are quite open to whatever wisdom God gives. Why? There are times when we just move headlong toward the things that will lead us into bondage of some kind, all the while knowing in our minds that it isn't good to go that direction. We might not realize it, but God wants us to embrace his teaching, heed his warnings, and step into his peace more than anything else. Why? We move away from sin and closer to his heart whenever we do.

The message is written in our hearts at the point of salvation - a message meant to be shared, not so much in words as in renewed (different) actions. We might not see ourselves changing, but little by little, his Word is transforming us and his power is renewing us. Our choices are changing. Our attitude is adjusted so that others see something of Jesus in us. Transformation is both immediate, while renewal is ongoing. Remain in Christ and you will see both the transformation and the renewal. Just saying!

Idling on purpose

Yet there is one ray of hope: his compassion never ends. It is only the Lord’s mercies that have kept us from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his loving-kindness begins afresh each day. My soul claims the Lord as my inheritance; therefore I will hope in him. The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him, to those who seek for him. It is good both to hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. (Lamentations 3:21-26)

Everything around us may be collapsing, kind of going amiss in all kinds of different ways, but as Jeremiah declared: "Yet there is one ray of hope: his compassion never ends." Take heart - God hasn't abandoned you to the catastrophe of the day. He hasn't brought calamity upon you - but he stands at the ready to deliver you from that which has come!

One important thing I like within this passage is the part about his loving-kindness beginning afresh each day. That means his grace in our lives is as fresh as today - we don't have to rely upon 'old, stale grace' - we have new grace each breath we take. Grace is renewed moment-by-moment, but it also renews US moment-by-moment. What else can give us that kind of hope? I daresay nothing at all.

Wait upon God and you will never go away disappointed. That was the hardest lesson for me to learn because I am a 'doer'. I like to get things done NOW - waiting wasn't really in my vocabulary. I didn't do 'idleness' very well. I am learning that trusting God means I might just need to put things on 'idle' a bit in my life and take that required 'idle time' to just get alone with him. It is what brings clarity, refreshes my spirit, and renews my mind.

Does our deliverance always come the way we desired it to come? If your life is anything like mine, the answer to that one is that it seldom comes in the manner I predicted or desired it would come. In fact, God often surprises me with how 'fresh' his mercies are in my life. How about you? Has God surprised you with the freshness of his mercies this week? Revel in the newness of his grace - for his mercies are never stale or stagnant! Just sayin!